Why Test matches lasting the distance are a rarity | Cricket News – Times of India

With big points at stake in the WTC cycle, teams prefer to die by the sword
PUNE: Idealism and modern cricket don’t go hand in hand.
Those who have bought season tickets for the second Test between India and New Zealand, starting at the Gahunje stadium on Thursday, will be hoping that the match enters the fifth day. But they may have to recalibrate expectations.
The venue has a history of only two Tests.The first in 2017 against Australia was over on the third day, with India being all out 105 and 107 and left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe taking a match haul of 12-70. In the second, India beat South Africa on the fourth day in October 2019.

The Gahunje pitch is not expected to be as lively as the one in Bengaluru, but it will provide the spin spice. How severe the bite will be is the question. India head coach Gautam Gambhir termed the strip as a “typical Indian pitch” where both batters and bowlers have to “do their jobs”.
He said that reading the pitch and reading too much in to it can be hazardous and no one could precisely predict the behaviour of any surface.
Veteran cricket watchers don’t want a premature finish to five-day Tests and hence doctored pitches and over-aggressive batters are looked at as culprits.
But even the first Test in Bengaluru last week ended in four days, despite having a great pitch, if we take into account the fact that the first day was entirely washed out.

Many things have to fall in place if a Test is to last the distance. That means evenly matched teams, a good sporting wicket having the potential to last five days and a just reward system for guts, gumption, patience and defensive technique over thrill.
Even on a good wicket, it’s the batters who play for a draw and not the bowlers.
“Draws are boring. The teams are going for wins these days. Decisive games are fun,” said Gambhir. Wins carry handsome points (12) too in the race for the World Test Championship final. The draw gets only four points.
Dying by the sword is not looked at as taboo. Speed is the buzzword. Applying the slow squeeze is out of fashion, especially if other paths are available.
Gambhir himself batted for almost 11 hours (137 runs, 436 balls) in the Napier Test of 2009 and eked out a memorable draw for India.
“The T20 cricket had just started around that time. Now, the batsmen are conditioned to play shots. It’s understandable and natural evolution. We can’t complain too much about it.”
The Kiwi middle-order batsman Daryl Mitchell said, “We were taught to play defensive shots first, which is no longer the case now.”
The famed yesteryear draws with dogged batting contributions was also a result of time-wasting tactics and not completing enough overs over five days.
Now, umpires and match referees are given powers to ensure that at least 430 overs are bowled over five days if time is not lost due to weather intervention.